The world is facing a broad range of challenges related to agriculture, and particularly the livestock sector, including threats to productivity, the natural environment and human health. While much research has been conducted into potential risks and their drivers, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how governments can be affected by shocks that are to some extent predictable but for which they are often ill prepared. Policy seeks to anticipate and also influence the future and, as policy-makers, national Veterinary Services have an important role in both anticipating and influencing the future of their countries and the world. In the first part of this paper, the author summarises a wide range of Foresight methodologies and tools relevant to, or used by, Veterinary Services or veterinary researchers. This discussion is followed by an example of the adaptation and application of a Foresight framework tailored specifically to Veterinary Services. Finally, the author draws conclusions on Foresight methodologies useful to Veterinary Services.
Countries in Southern Africa derive immense benefits from livestock production and demand for livestock products is set to increase in the coming decades. Rapid increase in livestock production brings opportunities but also increases vulnerability to animal disease and human health externalities such as antimicrobial resistance and unsafe food. Priority livestock diseases in Southern Africa include foot and mouth disease, peste des petits ruminants, trypanosomosis, anthrax, rabies and salmonellosis. As well as the impacts of disease on animals and people, concern is growing about the environmental impacts of livestock. Technologies have the potential to mitigate the risks and maximize benefits, including diagnostics, vaccines, antimicrobial alternatives, eAgriculture and prediction and modelling tools. Getting technologies to end-users requires packages that combine them with enabling policy and incentives. Sustainable intensification, progressive disease control and risk-based approaches to food safety are among the most important propositions. Government should support research-to-use through adopting One Health, promoting animal welfare and strengthening public and private veterinary services. ; Peer Review
Informal trade in livestock and livestock products is of special concern because of the risk of spreading animal and human diseases. At the same time, informal trade can contribute to people's livelihoods and food security, especially in lowand middle-income countries. Informal trade may involve legal or illegal products. It may be domestic (or internal) or involve neighbouring countries; it may take place within a region or between distant countries. Entrepôt trade (or 're-exports') is a significant form of informal trade in livestock products. Pastoral mobility often entails movement across boundaries for trade and much of this is also informal. There are important economic, social, political, and environmental drivers for informal trade which make it difficult to eliminate. Informal livestock trade may be largely ignored by the authorities, implicitly encouraged, made less attractive, forcibly suppressed, or actively engaged with, in an attempt to mitigate its risks and enhance its benefits. To identify the optimal management approach, it is crucial to understand the importance and characteristics of informal trade, its benefits and risks, and the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of different strategies to address it. The authors describe a case study from East Africa to explore some of the issues raised by informal trade.
Poverty is now at the heart of development discourse; we discuss how it is measured and understood. We next consider the negative and positive impacts of livestock on pro-poor development. Taking a value-chain approach that includes keepers, users and eaters of livestock, we identify diseases that are road blocks on the 'three livestock pathways out of poverty'. We discuss livestock impacts on poverty reduction and review attempts to prioritize the livestock diseases relevant to the poor. We make suggestions for metrics that better measure disease impact and show the benefits of more rigorous evaluation before reviewing recent attempts to measure the importance of disease to the poor. High impact of a disease does not guarantee high benefits from its control; other factors must be taken into consideration, including technical feasibility and political desirability. We conclude by considering how we might better understand and exploit the roles of livestock and improved animal health by posing three speculative questions on the impact of livestock diseases and their control on global poverty: how can understanding livestock and poverty links help disease control?; if global poverty reduction was the aim of livestock disease control, how would it differ from the current model?; and how much of the impact of livestock disease on poverty is due to disease control policy rather than disease itself?
Dairy products are an important source of high-quality animal proteins in developing countries, and increased consumption of these products by pregnant women and young children is advocated to reduce malnutrition and child stunting. However, the nutritional benefits of dairy products can be compromised by the presence of contaminants causing foodborne disease. These food safety risks are increased by frequent consumption of raw or inadequately heated dairy products. The World Health Organization published estimates of the global burden of foodborne disease in 2015, and attribution of this disease burden to specific food groups in 2017. It is estimated that each year, 600 million people fall ill because of foodborne disease, resulting in 435,000 deaths and a disease burden of 33 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs; equivalent to one healthy life year lost). Of this burden, 38% is attributed to animal-source foods (ASF), with 12% of the burden of ASF attributed to dairy products. The average global burden of dairy products is 20 DALYs per 100,000 population. The major contaminants in dairy are Mycobacterium bovis (9 DALYs/100,000, highest burden in Africa), Campylobacter spp. (4 DALYs/100,000, highest burden in Eastern Mediterranean), nontyphoidal Salmonella enterica (4 DALYs/100,000, highest burden in Africa) and Brucella spp. (1 DALY/100,000, highest burden in Eastern Mediterranean). The burdens of Cryptosporidium spp., Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli and Toxoplasma gondii are low (<1 DALY/100,000). Proper heating of dairy products would be effective in reducing these burdens substantially. The burden of chemical contaminants is less well documented. Adulteration is a potential problem, as illustrated by the melamine contamination incident in Chinese infant formula. Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is frequently observed in milk in concentrations higher than maximum tolerable limits in the USA and Europe. AFM1, which cannot be destroyed by heating milk, is a metabolite of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) - a mycotoxin (fungal toxin) frequently found in corn, nuts, and the feed of dairy animals. However, the carcinogenic potential of AFM1 is significantly lower than that of AFB1, which is a known human liver carcinogen. The risk of liver cancer from current exposure levels to AFM1 is likely to be extremely low. There is limited evidence of an association between AFM1 and stunting, which requires further study. Dioxins cause a high disease burden specifically in Southeast Asia (14 DALYs/100,000); and several metals (lead, arsenic, methylmercury) each cause a global burden of 20-70 DALYs per 100,000. The contribution of dairy products to human exposure to these chemicals is unknown. ; United States Agency for International Development ; World Bank ; Government of Japan ; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ; United States Food and Drug Administration ; United States Department of Agriculture ; World Health Organization
The Handbook provides a comprehensive statement and reference point for hazard and disaster research, policy making, and practice in an international and multi-disciplinary context. It offers critical reviews and appraisals of current state of the art and future development of conceptual, theoretical and practical approaches as well as empirical knowledge and available tools. Organised into five inter-related sections, this Handbook contains sixty-five contributions from leading scholars. Section One situates hazards and disasters in their broad political, cultural, economic, and environmental context. Section Two contains treatments of potentially damaging natural events/phenomena organized by major earth system. Section Three critically reviews progress in responding to disasters including warning, relief and recovery. Section Four addresses mitigation of potential loss and prevention of disasters under two sub-headings: governance, advocacy and self-help, and communication and participation. Section Five ends with a concluding chapter by the editors.
Poverty is now at the heart of development discourse; we discuss how it is measured and understood. We next consider the negative and positive impacts of livestock on pro-poor development. Taking a value-chain approach that includes keepers, users and eaters of livestock, we identify diseases that are road blocks on the 'three livestock pathways out of poverty'. We discuss livestock impacts on poverty reduction and review attempts to prioritize the livestock diseases relevant to the poor. We make suggestions for metrics that better measure disease impact and show the benefits of more rigorous evaluation before reviewing recent attempts to measure the importance of disease to the poor. High impact of a disease does not guarantee high benefits from its control; other factors must be taken into consideration, including technical feasibility and political desirability. We conclude by considering how we might better understand and exploit the roles of livestock and improved animal health by posing three speculative questions on the impact of livestock diseases and their control on global poverty: how can understanding livestock and poverty links help disease control?; if global poverty reduction was the aim of livestock disease control, how would it differ from the current model?; and how much of the impact of livestock disease on poverty is due to disease control policy rather than disease itself?
This book contains 18 chapters that describes the evolving and multi-faceted roles of ILRI in addressing these and other global challenges in nearly a half century of research. ILRI researchers and partners took leading roles, for example, in the following. This volume can serve as a reference and resource for all interested in the role of livestock in agricultural transformation and sustainable development. It should be useful for distilling, learning from, and building on past work and lessons hopefully to inform and inspire students, researchers and research managers and their investors.
Aflatoxins are carcinogenic, toxic and immunosuppressive substances produced by some species of the fungal genus, Aspergillus. Consumption of aflatoxins can have serious health effects. Widespread in the tropical and sub-tropical world, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is found in many staple foods and feeds; after ingestion it is metabolized to aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), which transfers to milk. One option for reducing aflatoxin concentration in cow milk is addition of mycotoxin binders to animal feeds, but little is known about this practice in the smallholder dairy systems in developing countries. We undertook a study to investigate the availability and use of mycotoxin binders in selected urban and peri-urban areas of Kenya. Data were collected using key informant interviews with government officials and one-to-one questionnaire-guided interviews with agrovet outlets (shops that sell animal health products (such as antibiotics) and crop inputs (such as fertilizers) and feed processors. Nine different mycotoxin binder types were reported. They were sold by 8% (4/49) of agrovets and 33% (3/9) of feed processors. The binders were purchased by farmers formulating their own feeds and by feed processors. Our review of regulations found that incorporating binders into animal feeds is not mandatory and there are no specific standards governing their use in Kenya. Feed processors are expected to respect the maximum allowable limit of 5g/kg for AFB1 in complete feeds. Gaps in the local feed supplies that may potentially lead to increased risks of aflatoxin exposure through milk are discussed. This study provides key data on the availability and local use of mycotoxin binders, which were previously lacking. However, there is a need for continued research on their effectiveness in the local smallholder context, in order to promote their appropriate use.
Aflatoxins are carcinogenic, toxic and immunosuppressive substances produced by some species of the fungal genus, Aspergillus. Consumption of aflatoxins can have serious health effects. Widespread in the tropical and sub-tropical world, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is found in many staple foods and feeds; after ingestion it is metabolized to aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), which transfers to milk. One option for reducing aflatoxin concentration in cow milk is addition of mycotoxin binders to animal feeds, but little is known about this practice in the smallholder dairy systems in developing countries. We undertook a study to investigate the availability and use of mycotoxin binders in selected urban and peri-urban areas of Kenya. Data were collected using key informant interviews with government officials and one-to-one questionnaire-guided interviews with agrovet outlets (shops that sell animal health products (such as antibiotics) and crop inputs (such as fertilizers) and feed processors. Nine different mycotoxin binder types were reported. They were sold by 8% (4/49) of agrovets and 33% (3/9) of feed processors. The binders were purchased by farmers formulating their own feeds and by feed processors. Our review of regulations found that incorporating binders into animal feeds is not mandatory and there are no specific standards governing their use in Kenya. Feed processors are expected to respect the maximum allowable limit of 5 μg/kg for AFB1 in complete feeds. Gaps in the local feed supplies that may potentially lead to increased risks of aflatoxin exposure through milk are discussed. This study provides key data on the availability and local use of mycotoxin binders, which were previously lacking. However, there is a need for continued research on their effectiveness in the local smallholder context, in order to promote their appropriate use.
A key tenet of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is that agricultural practices, interventions, and policies can be better configured both to maximize health and nutrition benefits and to reduce health risks. This is particularly true regarding aflatoxins and other mycotoxins, an important food safety health risk with significant implications for developing countries. Aflatoxin exposure is particularly problematic in low-income populations in the tropics that consume relatively large quantities of staples, particularly maize and groundnuts. The best documented health impact of chronic exposure to aflatoxins is liver cancer. It is estimated that 26,000 Africans living south of the Sahara die annually of liver cancer associated with aflatoxin exposure. Broader health effects such as immune suppression with higher rates of illness and child stunting have also been associated with aflatoxin exposure. The presence of aflatoxins can also limit the growth of commercial markets and trade. As but one example, aflatoxin contamination has sharply limited the quantities of maize that the World Food Programme has been able to purchase locally in Africa since 2007. ; Introduction Shenggen Fan, Rajul Pandya-Lorch, and John McDermott Brief 1: Tackling Aflatoxins: An Overview of Challenges and Solutions Laurian Unnevehr and Delia Grace Brief 2: Aflatoxicosis: Evidence from Kenya Abigael Obura Brief 3: Aflatoxin Exposure and Chronic Human Diseases: Estimates of Burden of Disease Felicia Wu Brief 4: Child Stunting and Aflatoxins Jef L. Leroy Brief 5: Animals and Aflatoxins Delia Grace Brief 6: Managing Mycotoxin Risks in the Food Industry: The Global Food Security Link David Crean Brief 7: Farmer Perceptions of Aflatoxins: Implications for Intervention in Kenya Sophie Walker and Bryn Davies Brief 8: Market-led Aflatoxin Interventions: Smallholder Groundnut Value Chains in Malawi Andrew Emmott Brief 9: Aflatoxin Management in the World Food Programme through P4P Local Procurement Stéphane Méaux, Eleni Pantiora, and Sheryl Schneider Brief 10: Reducing Aflatoxins in Africa's Crops: Experiences from the Aflacontrol Project Clare Narrod Brief 11: Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions to Reduce Aflatoxin Risk Felicia Wu Brief 12: Trade Impacts of Aflatoxin Standards Devesh Roy Brief 13: Codex Standards: A Global Tool for Aflatoxin Management Renata Clarke and Vittorio Fattori Brief 14: The Role of Risk Assessment in Guiding Aflatoxin Policy Delia Grace and Laurian Unnevehr Brief 15: Mobilizing Political Support: Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa Amare Ayalew, Wezi Chunga, and Winta Sintayehu Brief 16: Biological Controls for Aflatoxin Reduction Ranajit Bandyopadhyay and Peter J. Cotty Brief 17: Managing Aflatoxin Contamination of Maize: Developing Host Resistance George Mahuku, Marilyn L. Warburton, Dan Makumbi, and Felix San Vicente Brief 18: Reducing Aflatoxins in Groundnuts through Integrated Management and Biocontrol Farid Waliyar, Moses Osiru, Hari Kishan Sudini, and Samuel Njoroge Brief 19: Improving Diagnostics for Aflatoxin Detection Jagger Harvey, Benoit Gnonlonfin, Mary Fletcher, Glen Fox, Stephen Trowell, Amalia Berna, and Ross Darnell ; PR ; IFPRI1; CRP4; GRP40; Theme 2; Subtheme 2.3; 2020 ; DGO; MTID; A4NH ; CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH)
South Asia and Southeast (SE) Asia have some historical links from the past in respect of religion, tradition, culture, food habits, trade, language and population migration. Pig rearing is an important part of smallholders' livelihood and socio-cultural belief among pig producers in both regions. Its distribution is largely determined by ethnicity and religion. Because of socio-religious sentiments towards pig rearing and pork consumption, pigs population in South Asia is much smaller than in SE Asia. Vietnam and the Philippines are the two major producers of pig among the SE Asian countries while India is the leading country in South Asia. The pig sub-sector in some of the countries in SE Asia is growing at a faster pace because of industrialisation of farming system and transformation of smallholder backyard system to more commercial farming system in response to market demand. Industrialisation of pig farming in South Asia is yet to take place although the transformation is going on at a slower pace. Naturally, SE Asia is endowed by a few more productive indigenous breeds compared to South Asia. Artificial insemination in pigs is more widely prevalent in SE Asia than in South Asia, although natural breeding is still predominant at smallholders' level in both regions. Feed regime for pigs is found to be better in SE Asia than in South Asia in terms of use of more grains and protein sources. Cultivation of food-feed crops (sweet potato, maize, cassava etc.) for feeding of pigs is more popular in SE Asia than in South Asia. The housing system in both regions is in a transformation stage from scavenging to semi-intensive to intensive although the degree widely varies among the countries. There are many common diseases affecting pigs in both regions. Among these, classical swine fever (CSF) is a major disease affecting pigs in both regions. Vaccination against CSF is more common in SE Asia than in South Asia. The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) that has been posing a major threat to the pig industry in SE Asia for the last several years has just been reported recently in South Asia (NE India). Disease prevention mechanisms through vaccination and deworming are more common and widely practiced in SE Asia. Marketing system of pig/ pork in rural areas is almost the same in both regions although it is more advanced in urban centers in SE Asia. The pig subsector in SE Asia has been a prominent component of the government development policies more than it has historically been in South Asia Export market for pork is more vibrant and growing rapidly in a few countries (eg. Thailand, Vietnam) in SE Asia while this is almost nil in South Asia. Pork safety is an important issue in both regions although there are wide country variations. Overall, the pig subsector in SE Asia is more advanced in terms of wider prevalence of better breed, feed, healthcare, processing and market infrastructure including industrial farming system and export-import market than South Asia. It could be anticipated that South Asia could be benefited from some of the lessons of pig systems in SE Asia.
